And so it goes?

Prologue; Ch. 1: From a Different Shore


Takaki speaks volumes to me in only a few pages, which I have to admit is surprising. Don't misunderstand, I certainly didn't underestimate the author, but as a student hearing "read the prologue and then the first chapter" of a history book evokes the habituated feeling of dryness and tedious length. I stalled at first, but when I finally started reading I was amazed to find how truly interesting the topic was in and of itself without any prodding. While I spent three hours in the "study" lounge, I was (pleasantly) surprised that I managed to finish the reading without falling asleep, only taking half of the time I was there to complete it, and without ever feeling that I was actually working.

I suppose I'd label myself a romanticist or some kind of idealist. Being an overall otaku, I've always felt right at home within the modern Japanese/Japanese-American culture, and that has also opened doors for me to be automatically accepting of the country's history and the cultures of China, Korea, and other countries of Eastern Asia. I've never thought of Asian Americans as any different from other Americans, I'll admit to saying (specific, not stereotypic) Asian guys are hot (um, hello, Bou? Kanon? Teruki?) and not feeling awkward about it - and why should I? They're just as much 100% human as any "Caucasian." Furthermore, I don't see myself as having a definable "Asian fetish" brought on by some kind of imperialistic society; I'm dating an immigrant from Poland, and I'd hate if he ever DREAMED of giving up something so special like his heritage, like losing the language. The fact is, interracial relationships have been happening for years, whether or not they were overt. Even Thomas Jefferson has the "notorious" Sally Hemmings affair under his belt. Todd, while your self-scrutiny is greatly commendable, I hardly think you have anything to worry about. Quite frankly, hormones and endorphins are rarely racist. If you really love this girl, and it sounds like you do, your attraction probably wasn't driven by the unconscious urge to be imperialistic and completely absorb her into a white-man's world. People who behave in certain ways because their friends say "Asians are hot" as a factual statement (like the stereotypical "Asians are geniuses in the Science/Math areas") may need more work. Hopefully the proximity effect will kick in and eventually they'll come around to think like you.

As an anthropology student, too, an aversion to ethnocentrism has been pretty ingrained in me. With this and the aforementioned second home in Asian culture, I was deeply dismayed when I read by Takaki about how much racial discrimination there still is against Asian Americans. At first it came as a surprise, since these people are everywhere and hardly "foreign," but eventually it turned into a sickened acceptance of the fact that many Americans are just plain bigots, whether or not they try to be or admit it. Even when I tell some people I'm into anime/manga/J-Pop, I'll get "that look" or maybe someone will actually come out and tell me I'm "weird." Modern American society has forgotten all need for tact and no one thinks about what they say before they say it, leading to those innocent slip-ups such as being "the only Americans" in a Vietnamese restaurant, however surrounded by citizens. I won't put myself on a pedestal and say I've never had a moment where I wished I could take a stupid verbal accident back. But after having a slip-up and (hopefully) realizing it, one has to be more socially conscious. Every American should be. Asian Americans are the fastest growing minority group in the nation, it shouldn't be that hard to imagine that just maybe a good number of "Asians" are American citizens and just maybe deserve some decent respect (gosh darnit!).

This brings us to the main question of the day - where has the missing History gone in "Asian American History in Action Through Theatre and Film." Supposedly having the word "History" there would have brought about some kind of "controversy" or "risk." I don't understand why. Asian history, Asian American history, is essential to understanding the subsequently produced dramas and films. What else are films based on but what we know and what we cherish as our heritage? Just how many cowboy movies have been made in America? Film and Theatre go hand in hand with history; separating them makes the films meaningless and confusing, just driving more people to believe that the only things out there are cheap kung-fu movies. The same goes for the European-American films. If you completely take out the history and the modern social issues of, say, Brokeback Mountain and show it to an old-school, non-American Vietnamese person, all it's going to be is two men in funny hats dishonoring their families.

I am not Asian. But that doesn't restrict me from seeing what they see and knowing what they know. Asian Americans are Americans. Their history is our history. So what's the risk?